Fraud-preventive for coin-controlled vending-machines.



H. J. SWEANY'.

FRAUD `RIEIVIESIWIIVB POR COIN GONTROLLED VENDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1914.

Patented Feb. 16, 1915,

z SHEETS-SHEET 1.A

. H. J. SWBANY.

`FRAUD PREVBNTIVE FOR GOIN CONTROLLED VBNDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21. 15114 1,128,385.` l Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HARRY' J. swnANY, or QUAPAW, OKLAHOMA.

union.:

FRAUD-PREVENTIVI?. FOB COIN-CONTBOLLED VENDING-MACHINES.

T all whom t may concern ,Be it known that'I', HARRY J. SWEANY, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Quapaw, in the county of Ottawa and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in (Fraud-Preventives for Coin-Controlled Vending-Machines; and I. do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in.

. the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same.

The .pmary Object' of this, 'mention is vto provide extremely simple and highly e'f' icientmeans for protecting coin controlled4 vending machines against operation by 'spurious coins, slugs, checks, and in fact any object except a legal coin of the proper value.- v

Another object of the invention is to p`r0- vide in a device of this nature a systemof chutes which will return all objects except coins of the proper sizeand value to the l depositor.

With these and other vobjects in view as will become more apparent as the descrip` tion proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, comb1 nation and arrangement of .parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the followin whichfragmentary vertical sectiona view through a .coin controlled vend. ing machine, showing a portion of my fraud preventive device partly in elevation and partly in section, Fig. 2 1s a view taken on the plane of line 2-2'of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a detail top plan view .of the tilting platform. and slide therefor, Fig. 4 is a1 longi-v 'tudinal sectional view through the tiltin platform taken on the plane of linee-4 o Figf 3, Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of line 5-.5 of- Fig. v2,V

Fig. 6 is a transversesectional view through the initial coin guideway takenon the plane of line 6 6 of Fig. 2,- and showing the inclinationof the guideway to a vertical plane, Fig. 7 is a view taken on theplane of line 7-7 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 8 isa sectionalA view through the coin guide which linally Y receives the proper coin and sets the machine unto operation.

Referring to the drawings, l designates drawings',

theportion of a casing of a coin controlled vending machine having a coin entrance slot 2. Y

' 3 designates a coin guideway or chute ,Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

Application led January v21, 1914. Serial No. 813,516. Y i

vwhich receives` all coins of proper value inserted in the opening 2 and directs vthem v into engagement with contact plates 4 and 5 whereby a circuit is 'closedto setthe vending machine into operation. When the operation of the machine begins, the rod 6 act'uates the pivoted contact plate 5 to allow the coin to-drop into a money drawer or `other receptacle 7. f

' The foregoing illustrates -one form,v of

preventing device to be now described, but I 1t will be understood that this device, may

machines of other types. l

Coming no w to the means which I employ for preventmg other. than coins of proper vending machine which may be protected'v against fraudulent -operation by 'my fraudalsol be used in-.connection with vending size and value entering thechute- 3; 8 desig- -nates an inclined` coin guideway incommunicatlon at its upper end with the inner terminal -of the slot 2. This guideway is projecting towardeach Aother from' the. free edges of thetop and bottom walls and lying in a plane parallel tothe planevof the side or rear wal1v9. -The guideway i8 is-inclined to avertical' plane, as. illustrated by Fig. 6, Yso that a. coin passing therealong, bears flange 12 iS-cut away for a portion ofits width, as indicated by the numeral 14:, so that wh n a coin of less than the proper diameter reaches the cut away portion, it will formed by a plate bent to cprovide Va mam or. slde Wall 9, top and bottom walls 10 and 11., respectively and retaining ianges12 and 13,'

against the flanges 12 and 13. The top -fall from the coin guide. linto a chute 15.

This chute is one branch ofa system of chutes whichreturn all articles, except coins of the proper size anddenomination, that are inserted in the slot .2, to thedepositor.

A pair of levers 16 and 17 are pivoted intermediate their ends to the guideway 8, have their lower ends curved to form coin "supporting jaws, and are connected at their upper ends by means of the vlinks 18 and stem 19 to a vertical 'plunger 20. Referring toFig. 7, it will be seen that the lever 17 is pivoted to an ear 2l and is formed with a central offset portion 17 which receives the coin guide 8 and permits the terminals of the lever being positioned in the central longitudinal plane of the guide. 'The lever -16 is pivoted to an ear 22 formed upon the ends of the guideway 8 and, as shown in Fig. 5,

this lever is directly in line with the end of.

the guideway. j

p The plunger' 20 works through an opening 23 formed in the top of the casing 1, is held normally in elevated position by means of n the spring 24 and is formed adjacent its lo lower endvwith the transverse openings 25 and 26. VA kicker lever 27 is pivoted intermediate its end, as indicated by the numeral 28,l and swings in a vertical plane extending at right angles to the guideway 8 and passing centrally between the levers 16 and 17. 'Ihe upper end of the kickerleverjextends angularly toward the-levers 16 and 17 as indicated by the numeral 29 and a rounded lug 30 is formed upon one side of the lever 27 between the pivot point 28 and ,the angular portion 29. rllhis lug is receivedwithin theopening when the plunger 2O is' elevated and is received in the opening 26 .when the plunger is .forced inwardly. A

2.5 discharge chute 31 has a mouth 32 opening I directly under the levers 16 and $17 and said chute connects with the main discharge chute j l32 by means of an inclined chute 33; A slide 34 extends laterally and downwardly from the upperI terminal of the chute 31 in a direction opposite to the lever 27 and overlaps a tilting platform 35. This platform is'mounted to swing about a pivot 36 sup--V ported in any suitable manner., such as by 35 the arm 37,v and'is held normally against the underside of the slide 3 4 by a` weight 38 connected to the arm 39. A plurality of burs 40 are formed upon the upperface of the platform 35, for a purpose to be herein- '40 after explained, and said platform is also provided with a rim or stop flange' 41. The chute or coin guide 3 is positioned directly l under` the pivot 36 so Vthat'all-coins which slidevfrom the platform'- 35 when` the latter in a vertical plane, drop into the chute, setting the. vending machine into operation.

f 4The upper end of the chute 33 terminatesv to .one side of and slightly above the upperA .end of the chute 3 to receive eoins, disks 'et cetera which slide from theyplatform 35 before the latterreaches a vertical plane. x 42 indicates a permanent magnetdesigned to cause slugs, dlsks and otherarticles of a paramagnetic substance to bel started from the platform 3 5 so as to slide into the chute 33. y ff 43 indicates a guard plate positioned above the slide 34 so that coins knocked from between the'jaws of the levers 16 and 17 by. 6o the kicker lever 27 will `fall properlyl upon the slide 34.

Having described the construction of my *fraud preventive for coin controlledvendnir'ig u'iaehines,v l will now proceed to a brief description-of.the'operation thereof. fwhen,

as before stated, acoin or disk of a smaller diameter' than is necessary to operate the machine is inserted in the entrance opening 2, it falls from the guideway 8 into the Y chute l5 which is'`A connected to the` main 7@ discharge chute 32. Supposing the machine'to be designed to operate when a live cent piece is deposited in the slot 2 and such a coin is used. The nickel will drop from the guideway 8 through an opening 8 on to 75, the jaws of the levers 16 andi17. rlhe plunger 2O is then forced inwardly which causes the upper wall of the opening 25 to engage the rounded lug 30 and force the j arm 29 againstvthe coin and knock the'latg@ ter from between the levers on to the slide 34. lThe spring -4-4 holds the kicker lever normally against the plunger 20. '.From the slide 34 the nickel Vpasses on tothe tilting platform 35, causing said platform to swing g5 into a vertical plane'and drop .the .nickel into the chute 3. The spurs 40 engage thel inner vsides ofthe flangeof `thejnickel so that the latter does not drop from the platl form until the same is *directly over the @o chute 3. If the nickel is old and worn, it

' slides from the platform into the chute 33 and', if an iron disk or slug is used in place f a nickel, it will have its hold upon the platform loosened by the magnet 42 and en will slide into the chute 33 and be returned toA the depositor. Should a check or' any other article having a central opening be deposited in the slot 2 it will b e caught by the'levers 16 and 17 in the same way as the 16o coin as just described, but a diii'erent operation takes place when the plunger 20 is forced inwardly. The arm 29 of the kicker lever 27 passes through the opening in the check and does not knock the latter on to the slide 34. The inward movement `of the plunger opens the jaws of the levers 16 and 17 so as to leave the check unsupported except .by the arm 29 and when the lug 30 is opposite the opening 26, the kicker lever 27 it@ swings back into its normal position, allowi ing the check to drop into the chute 31 and f'be returned to the depositor. 'If a disk Aof tinfoil orother soft material is forced into ger 45 and either-drop from the guideway 8 when it reaches the cutaway portion 14, or pass between the jaws of the levers 16 and 17 directly into the chute 31.

From the foregoing description taken in 12o connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be evident .that l have provided a very simple and highly ecient fraud preventing device for coin controlled vending machines, which will e'ectually prevent 125 such machines being fraudulently =operated by spurious coins, slugsand in fact any but the proper legal coin.l 1

Vlhile ll have shown, and described the preferred emboent "of my' inventien, it l .will be'understo'od that -minor changes in construction, combination and' arrangement of parts may be. made without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed. A

-Having, thus described my. invention, I claim:-' *l 1. In a lcoin controlledvending machine, an inclined coin guideway, a. pair of pivoted;` levers to support alco'in or similar article as4 it passes] fromvthegg'uideway, aI pivoted kicker lever to knockV a coin' or similar arti- 'cle from between said levers, a plunger for actuating thekicker lever, means actuated by the plunger for spreading said levers, the" kicker lever passing through an'aperturedl article'without disturbing its position and then allowing said article to drop` between` the spread supporting levers.

r2. Inl a coin controlled machine, acoin guideway which discharges a coin in 'a substantially-vertical plane, a`pair offpivoted -levers between' whicha coin 'discharged 'from the guideway is supported, -a pivo'ted l kicker lever,'means for'actuating thejkicker lever to'kickacoin laterally from between. -said pivoted levers,`and means for spread# y ing the jaws f the pivoted levers at each operation of the -kicker lever, whereby an articlefnot. dislodged. by contact of vthe kicker lever is'released'. l 'n In testimony whereof I alflx my .signature 

